West Plains, MO. – Officials with the West Plains Council on the Arts have released an announcement as of today officially announcing the overall footprint of the upcoming Old Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival in downtown West Plains. Read below for the unfiltered announcement.
The 2023 Old-Time Music, Ozarks Heritage Festival in downtown West Plains, Mo., will be held Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. The annual two-day event in downtown West Plains celebrates Ozarks music and culture.
Steering Committee efforts this year are aided by increased funding through a special grant funded by the Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities, and the Missouri Department of Tourism. The Festival has been fortunate to receive this funding as a part of a ten-member cohort of festivals around the state of Missouri, increasing the programming on humanities – the why of traditions through more interpretative presentations. The event will receive additional state-wide promotion as well, which organizers anticipate will increase attendance at all activities of the Festival, and greatly benefit the economic impact to the area.
This year’s Festival footprint will be expanded, encompassing vendors and activities from the east lawn of the Civic Center, down Trish Knight Blvd., past events on Washington Avenue, and up to the Commons on the Missouri State University-West Plains campus at Haas-Darr Hall.
The east lawn of the Civic Center will become an encampment, featuring living history from four eras – Native American, Colonial, Mountain Men (Rendezvous), and the Civil War era.
Workshops and demonstrations on musical and traditional arts will continue to be presented at the Civic Center, and a Quilt Walk is planned throughout the downtown area. Digital maps for the Quilt Walk and West Plains Mural locations will be available.
Some of the new programming will include the Yellow House, where storytelling will be featured in addition to an art exhibit. The Avenue Theatre is planning a full slate of productions – live theater, showings of the West Plains Story Tour, silent films and more. Downtown Revitalization will program activities on Washington Avenue from Dixon Street to Broadway. And Trish Knight Street will be filled with vendors of all types.
Docents will be present at several downtown locations who will present the history of the buildings, and plans are underway for walking tours of locations featured in the Ozarks Deep: West Plains Story Tour around the square and down Washington Ave.
